My phone has never looked that bad (then again, that's a picture of the screen and not a screenshot, so it's impossible to tell in that example how much of it is the screen and how much is the camera). Definitely not a deal-breaker if you ask me....

I have not really noticed this much with how I use my phone but came across the XDA thread today on a kernel fix for this. When I was reading it, I found an excellent website that depicts the sharpening issue perfectly.

View that site on your phone and notice the off white "outlining" of the text, especially in the darker grey backgrounds. Then flash the fix and visit it again (after turning screen off and back on after boot) and notice the pleasant change.

I just did it and it's working nicely so far! I am currently running Hello Jasmine 3.0 ROM with 11C Verizon kernel. Works perfectly and is a very quick flash. Just remember to make a quick backup of the Boot partition in TWRP, so you can go back if you have any issues.

It has nothing to do with it, actually. But that is interesting. Must be a firmware update, are you running 5.0 or an international variant? Do you know what kernel you have?

I actually checked with another phone (AT&T on 4.4.2) and it was the same as my old one before the update, with the white halo around the letters.

I'm on Sprint running 4.4.2. There was an update not to long ago but it wasn't 5.0 thats for sure. I'm thinking that it might be that when you lower your animations to zero, the resharpening effect is so quick that its hardly noticeable. I'm not sure though because I've done A LOT of things to this device since I got it day one, lol!

I'm on Sprint running 4.4.2. There was an update not to long ago but it wasn't 5.0 thats for sure. I'm thinking that it might be that when you lower your animations to zero, the resharpening effect is so quick that its hardly noticeable. I'm not sure though because I've done A LOT of things to this device since I got it day one, lol!

That's strange. Animations are for something else entirely though. I noticed the effect on that grey-scale page mostly while not zooming in on the text. During the zoom, it actually gets rid of the white around the lettering until you let go, then it pops back in there. Very strange, but this fix worked very well for me!

Never noticed this before but that website was a dead giveaway that something wasn't configured correctly. Glad they tweaked the kernel.

Not all eyes will see over sharpening. Mine don't, so as far as I can see there is no such thing. Other eyes do see it and you will never convince anyone who sees it that the phenomena is not completely normal. So I suggest you do yourself a favor and try to be objective when you look at the screen. If you see it it will be there, but maybe it won't be there for you.

I do a lot of optics evaluations and reviews. It is somewhat analogous to seeing or not seeing color fringing in binoculars. It is always there, but not everybody will see it. A good portion of those who do taught themselves to see it because they went looking for it, just because it is supposed to be there. Do yourself a favor and don't look for it. If you don't see it, be glad. If you are prone to see it, you will.

Too bad you don't want to root. Nearly all of the newer G3 custom ROM's, particularly the LP ones have fixed the issue.

I've had this phone for a while now about 6 months and have never noticed the oversharpening.....kinda over exaggerated imo

Agreed, but text looks even better now (I like to take advantage of the high-resolution by getting as much text on-screen as I can) after throttling this "sharpening effect" down some from the factory kernel settings.

Anyone with root should definitely try it out to see what they prefer.

As far as how bad it is, I didn't think it was a big deal until I installed a kernel that eliminated it, and then restored to an earlier configuration that still had the sharpening. I was flabbergasted that I had put up with it for as long as I did. How visible it is depends a lot on the background / text colors (the less contrast between them, the more noticeable the oversharpening is), but the screen is simply easier on the eyes with the sharpening removed.

LOL! Ok, I have had my phone for 2 months. This is simply not a problem. I do run with animations off. IMO you'll not look at a much nicer screen. Do take the brightness off auto and set it for your own comfort.

It is excellent. I highly recommend this if you have the Verizon variant.

I've been waiting until I have more time to backup and start flashing others roms to see how they are. It has gotten very good feedback from the XDA community. I am interested in trying the official SkyDragon ROM as well as LiquidSmooth.

Thanks for the answers guys i see that neither of you have the d855 which is the one that i have so i can't try out those ROM's as i understand they are only available for specific models. Anyway going to wait a bit more and then flash.

Thanks for the answers guys i see that neither of you have the d855 which is the one that i have so i can't try out those ROM's as i understand they are only available for specific models. Anyway going to wait a bit more and then flash.

There are literally tons of ROMs to choose from if you have that model. Please check out the XDA forum and read the reviews.

All popular variants can use the above-mentioned kernel with the sharpening fix.